Deborah Feingold/Getty ImagesFounding Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, Blondie drummer Clem Burke and Talking Heads members Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth are among the many musicians scheduled to perform during a virtual tribute concert to Joey Ramone, taking place tonight to celebrate what would’ve been the late Ramones frontman’s 69th birthday.
The lineup for the event also includes former Ramones members C.J. and Richie Ramone, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock, longtime David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick, Patti Smith‘s guitarist Lenny Kaye and Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid.
Additionally, the late Alan Merrill, who co-wrote the Joan Jett & the Blackhearts hit “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” is also on the bill. Merrill died late March of COVID-19 complications, so maybe he recorded whatever he was planning to perform prior to his death.
Armstrong will be featured performing a song called “Now I Wanna Drink Some Bleach,” presumably a reworked version of the Ramones song “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue,” as part of a video mashup. We assume that the new title refers to Donald Trump‘s suggestion that injecting disinfectants could help treat COVID-19, a suggestion the president later claimed was “sarcastic.”
You can watch the show tonight starting at 8 p.m. ET via the Joey Ramone Facebook page. The online event also will raise money for Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research.
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